Adjustable garment hanger



Sept 22, 1953 R E. ALVORD ADJUSTABLE GARIVIENT HANGER Filed Dec. 30, 1950 INVEN TOR Ra/,o/z E. /z/orn/ Patented Sept. 22, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT orFicE ADJUSTABLE GARMENT HANGER Ralph E. Alvord, Faireld, Iowa Application December 30, 1950, Serial No. 203,604

3 Claims.

1 This invention relates to a garment hanger in general, and more particularly to an improved adjustable garment hanger for use with the ordinary commercial wire type of hanger.

The conventional coat or garment hangers which are used to a great extent by commercial establishments are of a bent wire construction and, as such, have very little thickness or body, and it has been apparent to many users of such hangers that a garment which remains on the Vhanger for any length of time soon acquires a crease across the shoulders corresponding to the top wire edge of the hanger. This has been partially overcome by the use of wood and other substances to give a wider bearing surface on the upper edge of the hanger. However, even the best of these constructions leave a great Vdeal to -be desired in that they do not provide a shoulder conforming surface which will serve to keep the garment in proper shape when it is stored on a hanger for any appreciable length of time. In addition, these hangers are not adjustable in width, so that they cannot possibly fit the various shoulder widths of garments with which they will be used.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improved form of garment hanger which conforms to the shape of the shoulders and neck portion of the garment.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an inexpensive garment hanger which is adjustablelengthwise to accommodate for different shoulder widths of garments.

It is still a further object of this inventionto provide a simple, easy to clean, rugged garment a hanger which may be used with the ordinary commercial wire hanger and which is easily and economically manufactured.

My invention will be best understood from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and its scope will of hanger length and Figure 5 is a front view of this improved hanger 'with a garment in place thereon.

Referring now to Figure 1, I have shown the improved garment hanger which preferably consists of a hollow body shell I of plastic or other suitable light-weight material and having the substantially triangular parallel spaced side walls 2 and 3. Extending upwardly from the center of the side walls is the neck conforming portion li which is provided with an aperture 5 at the center thereof for receiving a supporting wire hook, such as the hook portion of a wire or wooden or other form of commercial hanger. It will be noted that the general shape of the upper surfaces of the improved hanger bears a close resemblance to the conguration of the human shoulder and neck, having substantial width and thereby providing a form which will maintain the garment in correct position and shape. The side walls 2 and 3 of the hanger body are spanned by a top wall, the surface of which extends upa wardly and inwardly from each of the side walls.

The hanger is provided with a pair of identical adjustable end pieces and I which may be located in any one of a plurality of predetermined positions in order to adjust the length of the hanger to the shoulder width of the garment.

neierring to Figures 3 and 4, it will be noted that each of the adjustable end pieces, for example, the right end piece 6, has the configuration of a hollow, close fitting shell which ts snugly over the end portion 8 oi the hanger body I, as shown in Figure 4l. In this connection, it will be noted that the end portion 8 is provided with a plurality of apertures 9 adapted to receive and complement a fastening means such as the button l0 which is carried on the inner surface of the adjustable end piece t. Thus, when the adjustable piece l is placed over the end piece S and the button l0 engaged in the desired aperture 9, it is only necessary to slide the piece inwardly toward the center of the hanger until the shank Ii of the button i EB has progressed into the slot i as far as it will go. The oversized diameter of the button Eil will thereby prevent the adjustable end piece E from becoming disengaged from the end 8 of the hanger. Since the normal weight of the garment will be exerted downwardly on the hanger and there will also be a tendency to force the end pieces 5 and l inwardly, the end pieces will be securely held in the desired position.

It will be noted in Figure 4 that three positions of adjustment, the aperture S and the slot I2, have been provided. However, it is obvious that Aa greater or lesser number can be incorporated in the body of the hanger without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The range of adjustment of the hanger is shown in Figure 2 where it will be observed that in normal use the hanger I is placed over a commercial wire coat hanger I3 which has its hook portion I4 extending through the aperture 5 at the top of the hanger I. In the solid line position of Figure 2, the end pieces E and 1 are engaged in the respective adjustment slots closest to the center of the hanger, thereby giving the shortest overall width obtainable for use with small or narrow-shouldered garments. In the dotted line position of Figure 2, the end pieces 6 and 1 are shown engaged in the outermost positions of adjustment and it is apparent that a substantial range of shoulder Width in the hanger may be obtained by the use of the full range of adjustment of the end pieces.

Figure 5 shows the use of the hanger with a garment in place thereon and illustrates the form-fitting qualities of the hanger, especially the neck portion thereof.

Another feature of the hanger which will be found most useful to users who spend considerable time in travelling, is the ability of the hangers to be nested one on top of another in at hotels or other establishments, the hangers can be placed into use on the commercial wire hangers which are usually provided in such places and the traveller is provided with a form-fitting garment hanger which will serve to keep the garments in good condition. While the drawing shows this improved hanger body in use with the common wire coat hanger, it is of course obvious that any suitable wire hook can be utilized that can be extended through the aperture 5. Being' made of plastic or stamped or pressed from suitable light material, this improved hanger is easily and inexpensively manufactured and will be found to be substantially indestructible with normal use. It will be apparent that there are Various means of obtaining the adjustable characteristic of the end pieces 6 with respect to the body of the hanger I, and it is not intended that the invention be restricted to the exact invention as shown since other forms of attaching means such as a T-shaped slot and T-shaped button can be used or the use of a button and longitudinal u shown as pointed out before, has the advantage of simplicity, ease of manufacture and also the fact that it is held in locked or engaged position by the weight of the garment when in service.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from this invention in its broad aspects and I, therefore, aim in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as shown Within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A garment hanger assembly comprising a hollow shell-like body member open at the bottom thereof and having side walls, a central neck port-ion, and oppositely extending shoulder-engaging portions, each of said shoulder-engaging portions being inclined downwardly from said neck portion to the respective opposite ends of said body member, a part of each of said shoulder-engaging portions having a top wall spanning said side walls, a pair of hollow end pieces fitting closely over the ends of said body member and having top and side walls, a button extending downwardly from the inner surface of the top wall of each end piece, said top Wall of said body member being provided with a plurality of spaced button-receiving apertures adjacent each end of said body member for varying the position of each of said end pieces with respect to said body member and for positively securing said end pieces to said ends of said body member, the aperture farthest from said neck portion at each end of said body member being so positioned that each respective e-nd piece projects outwardly beyond an end of said body member when the button of said end piece engages one of said farthest apertures.

2. A garment hanger assembly comprising a hollow shell-like body member open at the bottom thereof and having side walls, a central neck portion, and oppositely extending shoulder-engaging portions, each of said shoulder-engaging portions being inclined downwardly from said neck portion to the respective opposite ends of said body member, a part of each of said shoulder-engaging portions having a top Wall spanning said side walls, said top wall being formed of surface elements extending upwardly and inwardly from each of said side walls and integrally joined substantially midway between said side walls, a pair of lhollow end pieces fitting closely over the ends of said body member and having top and side walls, a button extending downwardly from the inner surface of the top wall of each end piece, said top wall of said body member being provided with a plurality of spaced button-receiving apertures adjacent each end of said body member for varying the position of each of said end pieces with respect to said body member and for positively securing said end pieces to said ends of said body member, the aperture farthest from said neck portion at each end of said body member being so positioned that each respective end piece projects outwardly beyond an end of said body member when the button of said end piece engages one of said farthest apertures.

3. A garment hanger assembly comprising a hollow shell-like body member open at the bot-- tom thereof and having side walls, a central neck portion, and oppositely extending shoulder-engaging portions, each of said shoulder-engaging portions being inclined downwardly from said neck portion to the respective opposite ends of said body member, a part of each of said shoulder-engaging portions having a top wall spanning said side walls, a pair of hollow end pieces fitting closely over the ends of said body member and having top and side walls, fastening means on the under side of said top wall of each end piece, said top Wall of said body member being provided adjacent each end of said body member with a plurality of spaced fastening means complementary to said fastening means of said respective end pieces, said fastening means of said respective end pieces coacting with said complementary fastening means adjacent the respective ends of said body member to permit variable positioning of said end pieces with respect to said body member and for positively securing said end pieces to said ends of said body member, the complementary fastening means farthest from said neck portion at each end of said body member being so positioned that each respective end piece projects outwardly beyond an end of said body member when the fastening means of 5 said end piece engages one of said farthest complementary fastening means.

RALPH E. ALVORD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Beatty Jan. 3, 1905 Rothweiler Oct. 22, 1946 Poole June 3, 1947 Usina Aug. 3, 1948 

